Assemble Outer Bag

1. Sew together short ends of one green floral and one blue print 8-1/2x4-1/2" rectangle to make an A unit. Press seam in one direction. The A unit should be 16-1/2x4-1/2" including seam allowances. Repeat to make a second A unit.

2. Sew together short ends of one light blue floral and one green floral 1x8-1/2" strip to make a B unit. Press seam in one direction. The B unit should be 16-1/2x1" including seam allowances. Repeat to make a second B unit.

3. Referring to Diagram 1, sew together two 16x16-1/2" multicolor stripe rectangles, one A unit and one B unit to make a bag panel. Press seams in one direction. Bag panel should be 16-1/2x6" including seam allowances. Repeat to make a second bag panel.

4. Center one bag panel right side up on a 16-1/2x6" heavyweight interfacing rectangle; pin layers together.

5. Machine-quilt at 3-4" intervals across one bag panel top through both layers with multistep zigzag or other decorative stitch (Diagram 2).

6. Referring to photo, center and sew rickrack over seam between top stripe and A unit.

3. With wrong side inside, fold and press a light blue floral 2-1/4x16-1/2" binding strip in half lengthwise. Align long raw edge of binding strip with raw edge of fused pocket rectangle; sew together. Fold binding over raw edge, aligning folded edge with stitched line on reverse side of pocket rectangle. Secure binding by stitching through all layers with a 1/4" seam to make a pocket (Diagram 3).

4. Repeat steps 1–3 with remaining pocket rectangle, fusible interfacing 7x16-1/2" rectangle, and binding strip to make a second pocket.

Assemble Handles

With right side inside, fold and press a light blue floral 2-3/4x26" handle strip in half lengthwise. Sew together along long edges. Turn to right side and press with seam along one long edge to make a fabric tube. Using a safety pin as a guide, feed nylon webbing through fabric tube to make a bag handle. Topstitch handle 1/4" from both side edges. Repeat to make a second bag handle.Download this Project [1]

Finish Bag

1. Cut a 2" square from bottom corners of each bag panel (Diagram 5).

2. Center ends of handles along top edge of bag panels, 3" from outer edges; baste in place (Diagram 6). Press seams open.

3. Join bag panels along side and bottom edges to make bag body. Press seams open.

4. To box bottom corners, match each side seam of bag body with bottom seam; stitch across straight edge (Diagram 7). Turn bag body right side out and press.

5. Using lining units, repeat Step 1, cutting squares from bottom corners, and Step 3, leaving a 6" opening along one bottom seam to make lining.

6. Repeat Step 4 to box bottom corners of lining. Do not turn lining right side out.

7. Insert bag body into lining (they’ll be right sides together). Sew together around top edge with 1/4" seam.

8. Turn bag body and lining to right side through opening in lining bottom seam. Hand-stitch opening closed. Push lining down into bag body and press upper edge of bag. Topstitch 1/4" from bag upper edge through all layers to complete bag.